Throwing Down with our MagicCon Chicago Decks! - WPCS 147

Deck Strategies

• 

  Gonti, Night Minister

  Steal opponents' spells and generate treasure tokens to ramp mana, then use exiled cards for versatile plays, disrupting opponents while gaining card advantage.

• 

  Kathril, Aspect Warper

  Mill cards into the graveyard to build a large, counter-laden creature, then use Eerie Ultimatum to return creatures from the graveyard and overwhelm opponents in combat.

• 

  Marath, Will of the Wild

  Use +1/+1 counters and sacrifice abilities to control the board; create tokens and leverage combos to generate damage and wide board presence.

• 

  Wick, the Whorled Mind

  Build a rat and snail tribal synergy where entering creatures create snail tokens; sacrifice these tokens to deal damage and draw cards, steadily wearing down opponents.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Leveraging Dousing Dagger’s transform ability early provided significant mana ramp, accelerating the casting of powerful spells.

• 2

  Players timed attacks carefully to avoid retaliation, considering board presence and potential damage from sacrifice combos.

• 3

  Kathril’s ability to mill and then use Eerie Ultimatum created pressure to disrupt opponents before a massive board recovery could swing the game.

• 4

  Wick’s rat and snail token generation created incremental value through repeated sacrifices, turning small creatures into significant damage and card draw.

• 5

  Marath’s flexibility with +1/+1 counters allowed shifting between offense and defense while providing token backups for board control.

• 6

  Skullclamp on tokens helped maintain card advantage, highlighting the importance of equipment synergy in early game tempo.

Notable Cards

• 

  Skullclamp

• 

  Massacre Wurm

• 

  Eerie Ultimatum

• 

  Talisman of Creativity

• 

  Basking Rootwalla

Summary

The game started with players introducing their decks and strategies, setting the stage for a dynamic Commander match. Gonti, Night Minister (CGB) focused on a theft strategy, generating treasure tokens and exiling opponents' cards to play them for free. Kathril, Aspect Warper (Ben) aimed to mill cards and build a large attacking creature, with a potential game-ending swing following an Eerie Ultimatum. Marath, Will of the Wild (Blake) utilized +1/+1 counters and token creation alongside combos involving creatures like Basking Rootwalla and Massacre Wurm to generate board control and finishers. Wick, the Whorled Mind (Shea) operated a rat/snail tribal deck that leveraged sacrifice for damage and card draw, with synergy centered around creating and sacrificing snail tokens to deal damage to opponents and draw cards. Early gameplay involved efficient mana development and deploying key creatures and artifacts like Skullclamp and Talisman of Creativity. Players exchanged attacks tactically, with attempts to control board presence through removal and combat damage manipulation. Key moments included the transformation of Dousing Dagger into a mana-producing land, enabling ramp for bigger spells, and Kathril’s threat of an Eerie Ultimatum looming to reclaim numerous creatures. Wick’s rat and snail synergy posed a persistent threat with incremental damage that pressured opponents. The interactions between Marath’s token production and Morath’s ability to remove counters for damage or tokens created multiple avenues of offense. Ultimately, the game revolved around managing board states and leveraging each commander’s unique mechanics to outpace opponents, with combos and value plays shaping the evolving battlefield.